The 2013 Cannes Review Report: ‘Blue is the Warmest Color’

The 2013 Cannes Review Report: 'Blue is the Warmest Color'

The Cannes Review Report rounds up each day’s notable premieres, along with a sampling of their reviews and tweets from the south of France. Here’s the reaction to “Blue is the Warmest Color,” this year’s Palme d’Or winner.

“Blue is the Warmest Color“Category: CompetitionDirector: Abdellatif KechicheStarring: Lea Seydoux, Adele Exarchopoulos, Salim KechioucheSynopsis: “At 15, Adele doesn’t question it: a girl goes out with boys. Her life is turned upside down the night she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire, to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adele grows, seeks herself, loses herself, finds herself…”

“It’s disappointing that Mr. Kechiche, whose movies include ‘The Secret of the Grain’ and ‘Black Venus’ (another voyeuristic exercise), seems so unaware or maybe just uninterested in the tough questions about the representation of the female body that feminists have engaged for decades.”

“The explicit scenes never really feel pornographic, especially since the film isn’t about titillation or arousal; the lovemaking is instead quite tender (although often impressively athletic) and feels absolutely justified in order to build character over the span of many years.”

“A beautiful, wise, erotic, devastating love story, this tale of a young lesbian couple’s beginning, middle and possible end utilizes its running time to give us a full sense of two individuals growing together and apart over the course of years.”

“Some critics may wonder if these [sex] sequences — lengthy, intense, un-simulated and numerous — are necessary to tell the story. Please believe the part of my brain that doesn’t house a lecherous voyeur when I say yes, absolutely.”